After defeat, Obama pitches Dems to ‘reconsider’ his trade agenda

by Scott Wong - 06/13/15 6:00 AM ET

A day after the House dealt his trade agenda a stinging defeat, President Barack Obama on Saturday called on lawmakers to rethink their vote and quickly pass a bill providing aid for American workers hurt by trade.

Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and other House Democrats successfully voted to kill the workers-aid legislation, known as Trade Adjustment Assistance (TAA), in a bid to derail a related bill granting Obama “fast-track” authority to complete trade deals.

The House has decided to let the aid bill expire in a few months, leaving as many as 100,000 American workers without funding for job-training programs and community college, Obama said.

{mosads}“For the sake of those workers, their families, and their communities, I urge those members of Congress who voted against Trade Adjustment Assistance to reconsider, and stand up for American workers,” Obama said in his weekly address.

The House narrowly passed the fast-track bill, but it needs to also approve the aid bill for the entire package to be sent to Obama and signed into law.

House GOP leaders have vowed to bring up the aid bill again as early as Tuesday, giving Obama and other White House officials the weekend to try to flip dozens of Democratic votes.

In his address, Obama praised the House’s bipartisan vote for fast-track, or Trade Promotion Authority, something he needs to complete a major trade deal between the U.S. and 11 other Pacific Rim nations.

And he again made the case that trade deals fit into his his broader efforts to “grow the economy and help more hardworking Americans get ahead” following the recession.

“This is about the kind of country we want to build for our kids and our grandkids. And if I did not think that smart new trade deals were the right thing to do for working families, I wouldn’t be fighting for it, Obama said.

“This is the right thing to do. Trade that’s fair and free and smart will grow opportunity for our middle class,” he added. “It will help us restore the dream we share, and make sure that every American who works hard has a chance to get ahead.”

Tags Barack Obama